With yet another in a long streak of clear sunny days in Adelaide, Saturday was the day to walk the town.
There are always different alleyways to stroll through to thread your way to a destination, 
and the grid of streets makes it easy to find that way. My route started down North Terrace, the north border of the city center area. One of the most prominent sites is the classic Greek styled columns of the Old Parliament building.
Across the street is another classic styled structure, the railway station which is also the home of the city's major casino. Draw your own conclusion on this pairing. Behind the Old Parliament building is Festival Square, home of theater and locations of conferences and such. It has some bright (garish) colored art works that were a bit too bright (and garish) in the morning light. Moving on...
Next are a string of excellent museums. I wanted to see the Museum of Migration but it was not open until later in the day. There was an old wall around the back that was the only remaining part of a schoolhouse from colonial times. This was one of those places that Aboriginal children were force-ably taken from their homes and put in schools to "properly" teach them... a sad similar history to the Indian schools in America. You'd think everyone would be "sorry" about this. The wall is decorated with commemorative plaques from the various ethnic communities of Adelaide honoring their ancestors who dies in the atrocities of old Russia, Germany, etc.
Just next door is the massive and fascinating South Australian Museum. Filling the far corners of a massive stone structure, it contains a rich collection of Aboriginal artifacts and art, plus exhibits on Pacific cultures, natural history, minerals, fossils, and such.
The museum had a special exhibit on the Tasmanian Tiger, the world's largest marsupial carnivore. Sheep farmers who settled Tasmania had concocted this dog-like creature as a livestock threat, and in a short time bounty hunters sponsored by government funds had nearly eradicated the animal entirely-- the few remaining zoo specimens died off, the last one in 1932. The Tassie Tiger (not even genetically near a tiger) still remains and animal of curiosity with some people still spending large amounts of time and money chasing down reported sightings. You might think of it as a Tasmanian Sasquatch. It does live on the labels of Cascade Light Beer.
After visiting the Art Gallery and wandering past the University of Adelaide (more old buildings that look like either Greek Temples or Gothic Cathedrals), I reached the north east corner of City Center, the Botanical Gardens. The flowers were a bit passed prime, but I enjoyed the variety, serenity, as well as seeing what sorts of things I could come up with the through the macro lens of my camera.
My tourist brochure led me on a bum steer to the "East End Market", which has a large garage space 1/3 filled with tables of below garage sale quality items, and about 2 other customers. I though I had wandered into the Tomb of the Unknown Shopper.
In walking around I did find the doors to "heaven", and a sign warning about needing proper ID to enter (actually this is a trendy night club). Also in Adelaide you see tons of blue signs that read "POLITES". No, it is not a request for civil behavior, but the name of a Greek businessman who purchase many buildings and had some sort of ego to feed.
I also had a nice visit to Tandanya, the national Aboriginal culture center. It is named after the original local inhabitants, the Kauma people, who named the area "Tandanya" meaning "place of the red kangaroo". The gift shop had quality souvenir items, but sadly the exhibits were being changed and the gallery was not available. So it was back to Rundle Mall for more shopping and people gazing.
In the evening, I met up with Carol H from Ongaparinga TAFE and her husband who tool me to a nice dinner in South Adelaide, an area know as Olney. It was here I finally got a taste of the meat of Australia's national emblem, namely kangaroo. Yes, in the United States we do not munch on bald eagle, but maybe if they were not endangered and as plentiful as roos... Regardless, the meat was tender and tasty.
Sunday morning the beach was calling, so I ventured down to Victoria Square and caught the electric tram to the seaside town of Glenelg. The ride is noisy, stops frequently, and has a touch of class with the deep wood stained and leather upholster cars. But it is a convenient way to arrive at the beach!
The town is busy with people wandering up and down the store-lined main street, full of shops and cafes. But my target was the white sand beach and the azure green waves. The sun here is intense, with the southern latitudes and the thin ozone hole, so I ended up with some sun burn where the lotion was not so uniform. Live and learn (or burn).
On Monday morning I had one more visit at the Adelaide Institute of TAFE to meet with the student services department as they have a special project in learning support for online students. From here I met with two participants in the Flexible Learning Leaders project, Mark from the local Regency TAFE and Claire from the University of Technology Sydney. Mark played tour guide, with a drive to the view atop Mt Lofty (it was hazy so I ended up distorting the picture with PhotoShop filters).
From here it was a drive through some fantastic scenery of the McLaren Vale, one of the extremely productive wine regions of South Australia. We ended up at the Woodstock Winery, on what I termed a "fact finding" mission (wine tasting). Actually we had a wonderful exchange of ideas on technology and learning over a scrumptious lunch. It's a living ;-)
And on Tuesday I was winging it to Brizzie (Brisbane)...
